Little Heartbeats
by Maurice A. Nigma
Summary: Lloyd listening to the sounds of his unborn children's heart beats when nearing the day of their arrival.


**Listening to the Unborn**

**Written by: Maurice A. Nigma**

**Characters and References of Tales of Symphonia by: NAMCO Tales Studio, Ltd.**

Awakening from his deep slumber, Lloyd Irving moved around from his comfortable spot on the large bed. Blinking his eyes open, the young man noticed someone's back pressed comfortably against the front of his upper body. The brown haired swordsman smiled for when he saw the face of his love cuddled peacefully within his arms. Sheena Fujibayashi; a female ninja who went from being an enemy to a close friend and now a loving wife bearing his children.

Thinking of the babies, the young husband turned his attention towards his love's growing middle. Carefully, Lloyd gently placed his hands on top of his wife's belly and concentrated on feeling the twins moving inside. The Eternal Swordsman smiled with satisfaction as he felt the gentle movement of his children from within their mother's womb.

"Looks to me the kids are still asleep seeing that they haven't woke up their mommy with all their kicking," he said to himself chuckling softly so as to not wake Sheena from her slumber. "Boy, it must be hard on Sheena having to carry them around and not being able to move around most of the time. I guess this must be how mom felt when she was carrying me. Heh! I wonder how dad would deal with it?"

Lloyd slowly began to remove his arms away from the dozing beauty, careful so as to not disturb her with his movement. Taking a moment to gaze upon his sleeping wife's face, the brunette then turned his attention to her ever swelling abdomen. He is still amazed that the ninja's stomach could be so huge and look like a ripe watermelon. Of course, he had to be careful not to say it to the female for doing so would just be asking for a death wish. Sure, the combined weight of the twins pulled her down, but that did not mean that she would make his life a living nightmare if he said it out loud.

Carefully and quietly, the swordsman placed his ear against the side of her robed middle and began to concentrate. After a few seconds, his angelic hearing soon started to pick up on thumping noise occurring within Sheena's growing womb:

_Ba-bum! Ba-bum! Ba-bum! Ba-bum! Ba-bum!_

The sound of his two children's hearts in his ear caused a prideful smile to spread across the young man's face. He would not have imagined listening to his babies within his wife's stomach to be so soothing. So soothing that it nearly caused him to drift off to sleep before realizing that he has things to do. Especially since today is supposedly one of the days that his father scheduled for his training exercises. The brunette mentally groaned at the homework that the older man gave to him.

During one of their training sessions a few months ago, his biological father Kratos proposed to teaching Lloyd on how to call upon his angelic senses. The ancient swordsman took it upon himself to ensure that his only son would be able to control his new found abilities caused by his special Exsphere. It took the former seraphim most of the day to assist young man on controlling his enhanced sight and hearing. The older man sternly tells the brunette to use them only when necessary, not for childish games. Of course, listening to the heartbeats of his offspring is something that could not be missed.

"**Yawn!** I'd better get myself up and ready for the day before I decide to doze off," the Eternal Swordsman quietly said to himself while gently removing his head from his sleeping wife's abdomen before speaking to it in a affectionate tone. "As much as I like to stay on your mommy's tummy to listen to you guys some more, your dad needs to get up in order to get breakfast ready for all of us. I only wish that she would be able to hear you as well as I could. That would really make her happy with carrying you two rascals seeing that you're literally weighing her down. Not to mention that it's almost time for you two to come to the world."

A while ago, Raine, along with her brother Genis, had come to visit the couple to see how they are doing. The female ninja told the older woman that she suffered some minor discomfort as well as experience abdominal pains erupting at random times. She assured the two that their children are just getting into position for when it is time for their mother to give birth. Sheena is currently entering the last month of her pregnancy and had to be confined to bed rest, at Raine's strict orders, to decrease the risk of complications. It also helped to conserve the dark haired beauty's energy seeing as carrying the twins took a lot from her body when going for a small walk. These days, Lloyd stayed by his wife's side in fear of her suddenly going into labor as well as for her safety. He comforted and tended to Sheena's needs no matter how huge or painful the task is.

Staring at his love for another moment, the Eternal Swordsman then refocused his attention with putting on his regular red attire. After being suited in his daily clothing, Lloyd looked back towards Sheena who still sleeping soundly with her huge baby belly positioned comfortably to her side. Happy at seeing the summoner comfortable, the young man quietly walk towards her side and noticed her jet black hair not tied with her pink ribbon.

"She's so beautiful with her hair down like this," the duo sword master quietly said to himself while brushing his ungloved fingers on the young woman's face and then running them through her soft untamed locks. "I wonder if she's going to keep it like that? The twins would be very happy at seeing that they have a pretty mommy taking care of them."

Lloyd suddenly became startled as he saw his wife's eyes fluttering open and giving him a groggy yet playful smile. "**Yawn!** Mmm. You know, Lloyd, you can be really corny for when it comes to me and our babies," he heard Sheena speak with an exhausted and yet happy tone. "But it's nice to hear such sweet words from a guy who doesn't think that a woman's body is what makes her beautiful."

Chuckling at her words, the red clothed swordsman leaned in to give his wife a tender kiss on the cheek. He then turned his eyes towards the female ninja's abdomen and placed a hand on top of it. Lloyd saw his wife flustered at the loving attention he gave to his unborn children. Before he could speak, the young husband saw Sheena suddenly moving her hands to the front of her silken night gown and lifted it half way up to her breasts. What he saw is the beautiful mother-to-be revealing her protruding womb. Lloyd is thankful that he is not like Zelos or he would have suffered numerous bruises and paper cuts when caught staring at the voluptuous woman's changing figure.

"Sheena, just what are you...?" was all the confused young man said before his wife grabbed one of his hands and placing it on her bare baby belly.

Realizing what she is doing, Lloyd regained his composure and moved his hand gently on her large stomach in circles. Feeling the gentle movements of the little ones, he turned his attention towards the raven haired ninja's face and gave her one of his trade mark grins. Satisfied at seeing his wife's flustered reaction, the brunette placed his ear gently to the side of her upper abdomen and concentrated on listening to his children again. Relaxed and content at hearing the sounds of his kids' heartbeats, the young man felt his messy hair being tenderly stroked by Sheena's hands. After minutes of listening to his offspring, the young Irving lifted his head to look up to the female ninja's face. He smiled at the jealous and yet playful expression on her face before she spoke.

"You know, Lloyd, you could really be annoying at times," he heard the dark haired female saying while feeling her hand stroking his hair and face affectionately. "I mean, you could listen to our kids at any time you want while I can't even bend to see my own swollen feet. It's bad enough that I have to deal with lugging the twins around while not being able to fit into my favorite cloths. Not to mention the cramps and back pains that I've been feeling as of late. I can't wait to give birth to these growing rascals so that I could be free to move around and go anywhere I want."

Chuckling, Lloyd took both her hands off his head and placed them, along with his own, on top of her huge belly. The young husband then slowly moved his face towards Sheena's and gave her a quick peck on her lips. Looking deep into her content almond shaped eyes, the Eternal Swordsman spoke, "You're beautiful with your hair loose like that, Sheena. You should let it down more often."

The Eternal Swordsman saw the young woman blush a dark red as he moved one of his hands to stroke her black locks affectionately. Lloyd nearly failed at noticing the summoner's face wincing as he felt his offspring give strong kicks to the palm of the his other hand on top of Sheena's belly. "Eugh! Seems like our two little angels are finally awake," he heard his wife say with a hint of pain in her voice. "I think that we should focus on getting food into me seeing that these little tykes are starving and making mincemeat out of my insides."

Smiling, the Eternal Swordsman turned his attention to the young mother's ever expanding belly and kissed the spots where he felt his children kick. "Now you two better behave for your mommy while playing in there," he spoke softly to his unborn children while seeing his lovely wife blushing and giggling at his display of affection. "We don't want her to experience a tummy ache now would we?"

Right as he lifted himself up and went towards the door, Lloyd turned to look back towards Sheena's direction and saw a loving maternal smile spreading across her face. He also noticed her hands still wandering across the surface of her exposed abdomen hearing her giggling and wincing a bit in pain while feeling their children move. _"She must be getting pretty anxious with wanting to see the twins,"_ the brunette thought while watching the scene with a smile. _"I guess with her due date drawing near, who could blame her for wanting to dream about holding two adorable babies in her arms. She's so beautiful for when she gets motherly like that. I guess this is how dad must see mom for when they're expecting me."_

Lloyd took in the scene for another moment right before exiting the room and going towards the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

**The End.**

**A/N:**Not one of my best works, but it's something that I've really wanted to get off my plate for a while. From what I've done, it would be an improvement seeing that my procrastination has been a habit that I've been meaning to take care of. Thanks to the advice of one of you, I'll try to update as much as I could as well as get some ideas out of the pile and I mean pile. Trust me, I've got so many ideas all created that it's enough for about 10 to 15. I hope to expect honest criticism from all of you.

Oh, and for all of those who reviewed, I'm only concentrating my efforts into creating one shot fictions until I get the knack with updating more often. I don't expect to update daily, but I do expect to get it up sooner than usual. Thanks for all of your continued support and for understanding. Later!

Maurice A. Nigma


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